Marker



Oct. 28, 1958 R. J. GoETTlNG 2,857,695I

MARKER Filed June s, 1954 l! I Muff/! j 10'/ I /fZ l 124/ 12N,

J 3 1.2/ ffb/ l ze d G 1 mm d llc 21a. zrlf MARKER Raymond J. Goetting, Kalamazoo, Mich., assigner to Robert C. Freeman and Willis Morren, Jr.

Application .lune 3, 1954, Serial No. 434,111

1 Claim. (Cl. ttl-10) The instant invention relates to a marker assembly, and more particularly, to an improved assembly for mounting a display member adapted to receive intelligence-conveying indicia for use in gardens, greenhouses and the like.

As those familiar with the art of horticulture will readily appreciate, one of the principal problems presented is that of properly and adequately designating the names and types of plants, as well as prices when such are desired. In many instances, one will notice small white wood sticks are used, but such sticks are not durable and crack and shrink because of the weather. Also, markings on such sticks are soon smeared or completely lost by normal weather erosion.

Various metal markers have been suggested at one time or another, but in most cases these devices leave something to be desired. For example, most metals are too easily corroded to stand up any appreciable length of time under normal conditions of weather, plant spraying, etc. In other cases, the metal markers usually must be permanently aixed to a suitable standard or base member, so that there is no versatility in such marker assemblies. In other words, the specitic positional relationship between the marker display portion and the standard is fixed in any given marker design now available; and since it is desirable to use different shaped markers for different purposes, it is necessary to manufacture or purchase a substantial number of markers of each different design, rather than purchasing a marker which is sufficiently Versatile to be assembled in more than one different arrangement, Also, marker assemblies which cannot be repeatedly broken down and reassembled provide additional problems with respect to shipping the same from the manufacturer to the user.

The various problems in this art have been solved by the instant invention which provides a display member having a number of different mounting means which are adapted to cooperate with an arch-shaped wire standard to provide a number of different marker assemblies. These assemblies may be assembled and disassembled manually by the user, and may be altered from one design to another by the user.

It is, therefore, an important object of the instant invention to provide an improved marker assembly for the use herein indicated.

It is a further important object to provide an improved marker assembly comprising an arch-shaped wire standard and a display member slidably mounted thereon by 2,857,695 Patented Oct. 28, 1958 icc means of associated pairs of spaced mounting means which frictionally engage the legs so as to retain the display member in a position, although permitting shifting of this position merely by the application of manual pressure.

Other objects, features and advantages of the instant invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed disclosure thereof and from the drawings appended hereto which form a part hereof.

On the drawings:

Figure 1 is an elevational view showing one marker assembly embodying the instant invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged elevational fragmentary View of the rear of the display mounting shown in Figure l;

Figure 3 is a side elevational View of the display assembly of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is an elevational View of another marker assembly embodying the instant invention and employing the same member shown in Figure l in a different arrangement; and

Figure 5 is a fragmentary rear elevational view of the marker assembly of Figure 4 shown with parts broken away and parts in section.

As shown on the drawings:

In Figures l, 2 and 3, a marker assembly is designated generally by the reference numeral 10 and it comprises an arch-shaped wire standard 11 having a top arch portion 11a and having elongated depending wire legs 11b and 11C adapted to penetrate the ground G and mount the standard 11 upright therein, a display member 12 presenting a generally hat front face 12a for receiving marks from crayons or the like writing utensils, a rst pair of spaced mounting means 13 and 14 on the back face 12b (Figure 2) of the display member 12 engaging the legs 11C and 11b, respectively, and maintaining the legs 11e and 11b in spaced relation; and a second pair of spaced mounting means 15 and 16 on the back face 12b of the member 12 also engaging each of the legs 11C and 11b and maintaining the legs in spaced relation, the second pair of mounting means 15 and 16 lying generally parallel to and spaced vertically from the first pair of mounting means 13 and 14.4.

The legs 11b and 11e of the standard 11 are resiliently urged outward into engagement with the mounting means 13, 14, 15 and 16 for resisting sliding movement therebetween to normally hold the member 12 thereon but to permit manual adjustment of the member 12 on the legs 11C and 11b. The marker 11 is so formed that the arch portion 11a acts as a spring to urge the legs 11b and 11C outwardly with a reasonable amount of force. This force can be overcome rather easily manually so as to move the display member 12 longitudinally of the legs 11C and 11b, when such is desired. Such movement is facilitated by withdrawing the legs 11b and 11e from the ground, but it is not necessary to do this to move the marker 12 on the legs 11e and 11b. The mounting means 13, 14, 15 and 16 slidingly engage the legs, and the display member 12 is, of course, suiciently non-resilient or rigid to retain the mounting means 13, 14, 15 and 16 in position and to have them overcome the resilient forces on the legs 11C and 11b and urge the same together slightly.

As will be seen, the display member 12 has an elongated front face 12a extending generally longitudinally of the legs 11e and 11b in this embodiment and intelligence-conveying markings or indicia may be written on the front face 12a so as to be read vertically or horizontally, but preferably vertically in this embodiment. The pair of mounting means 13 and 14 are a pair of allochiral flange members which are turned in from opposite sides 12e and 12d, respectively, of the top rear of the member 12 for frictionally engaging the legs 11e and 11b, respectively, and aligning each leg with a side of the member 12. Thus the leg llc is aligned with the side 12C. The mounting means 15 and 16 are, likewise, a pair of allochiral flange members turned in from opposite sides 12C and 12d of the rear of the member 12, although at the bottom rather than the top, for frictionally engaging the legs 11c and 11b and also aligning each leg with a side 12o or 12d of the member 12.

This embodiment of the instant invention provides for an ornamental display or marker arrangement where in the elongated generally rectangular display member 12 is provided with flange portions extending the full length of the sides 12C and 12d. On the side 12e, there is positioned a turned in top flange portion 13, a straight back or perpendicular flange portion 17 in the middle and a bottom turned in flange portion 15. On the opposite side there is a top turned in flange portion 14, an' intermediate straight back flange portion 18 and a bottom turned in flange portion 16. On either side, the flange portions 13, 17, or 14, 18, 16 may engage the sides of the legs 11e and 11b to frictionally retain the member 12 in position; but the turned in flange members 13, 14, 15 and 16 effectively prevent any tendency for the legs 11C and 11b to move rearwardly away from the member 12. Only motion longitudinally of the legs llc and 11b is permitted unless the legs 11C and 11b are squeezed together manually so as to pull free of the turned in flange portions 13, 14, 15 and 16. This device 10 thus provides a substantial amount of frictional engagement between the two members so that the members will remain in fixed position during ordinary use and Wear and tear in the garden or greenhouse. Shifting of the position of the member 12 may be accomplished manually, whenever such is desired; otherwise, the assembly remains intact under most conditions of wear and tear.

Referring now to the embodiment 20 of Figures 4 and 5, it will be seen that the marker assembly 2l) comprises an arch-shaped wire standard 21 which has the same structure as the standard 11 and is mounted in the ground G' by means of legs 2lb and 21e joined at the top by the arch 21a. The display member 22 is identical in structure to the display member 12, although it is positioned with respect to the standard 21 in a different manner, in that the elongated front face 22a extends generally transverse to the legs 2lb and 21e.

In the device 20, the display member 22 has a first pair of spaced mounting means 23 and 24, here shown as the apertures 23 and 24, on the back face of the member 22 engaging each of the legs 21e and 2lb and maintaining the same in' spaced relation; and a second pair of spaced mounting means, as apertures 25 and 26, mounted on the back face 22h, also, engaging each of the legs 21e and 2lb and maintaining the same in spaced relation. It will also be noted that the mounting means 23 and 24 lie in a plane P which is parallel to and spaced from the plane P wherein the mounting means 25 and 26 lie.

As will be appreciated, the member 22 has top and bottom flange members turned back from the front face 22a in the assembly 20. These flange members in'clude the top and bottom flange portions (shown in section with the outer parts broken away) 27 and 28, which are identical in structure to the perpendicularly aligned intermediate flange sections 17 and 18 on the member 12 of Figures 1, 2 and 3. These members 27 and 28 carry the mounting means or apertures 23, 24, 25 and 26. Also, the top flange of the member 22 includes the end turned down portions 29 and 3l) which function in the embodiment 20 to provide improved appearance, conforming with the slightly rounded outer edges of the generally rectangular display member 22. The turned in or down flange portions 29 and 30 are identical in shape to the corresponding turned in portions 13 and 15 along the side 12e of the member 12. In the member 22 these turned in or turned down flange portions also provide additional edges on which to secure strings for tags or similar less permanent marking devices. In like manner, the apertures designated 19a, 1912, etc. in the member 12 may also serve to retain strings for tags or similar less permanent mounting members.

An additional feature of the embodiment 20 of Figures 4 and 5 resides in the fact that the apertures 23 and 24 are spaced apart a predetermined distance t; whereas the apertures 25 and 26 are spaced apart a slightly greater distance s. In general, s is about 1.05! to about 1.25t, and preferably about l.lt. It is generally desirable to make the distance s only slightly larger than the distance l so that appreciable distortion of the legs 21e` and 2lb will not be carried out by slipping the legs through the apertures 23, 24, 25 and 26; but the slightly greater spread s between the bottom apertures 25 and 26 will serve to very positively fix the position of the member 22 on the legs 21e and 2lb, so that only limited forcing manually is practicable as long as the legs 2lb and 21C are positioned in the ground. In order to make adjustments in the device 2t) for the position of the member 22, it is thus substantially necessary to pull the legs 21e and 2lb out of the ground; and correspondingly, accidental movement of the display member 22 is much less likely, in the embodiment 20 than in the embodiment 10.

The display members 12 and 22 are made out of aluminum sheet, preferably, although they may be made out of other metals such as White zinc. Aluminum has been found to be substantially more desirable for this use since the aluminum is more durable and more corrosion resistant. Also, aluminum is lighter in weight and less frictional engagement and less secure mounting means are permitted in embodiments using aluminum. Also, shipping costs, etc. are reduced. The wire standards 11 and 21 are conveniently made of galvanized steel wire or similar corrosion resistant material. In general, the display members 12 and 22 are elongated to the extent that their length is approximately three times the width (or their length is approximately three t). In this way the approximate spacing between the marker legs is about one-third the length of the display member, whether or not the display member is vertically or horizontally aligned with the standard 11.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the present invention.

I claim as my invention:

In a garden marker adapted to be placed upon and supported by an arch-shaped wire rod standard having depending wire legs which are embedded in the ground, the combination comprising: an elongated rectangular plate having a generally fiat front face adapted to receive markings thereon; a pair of longitudinally extending flange structures extending rearwardly from the longitudinal edges of said plate substantially at right angles thereto, each of said flange structures including a first portion, a second portion and an intermediate portion, said first portion being located at one end thereof of said flange structure and being turned in toward the rear face of said plate and adapted to partially encircle one of said legs, said second portion being located at the other end thereof of said flange structure and turned in toward the rear face of said plate and adapted to partially encircle said one leg and said intermediate portion being located between said iirst and second portions and extending substantially at right angles to said plate, said one leg being adapted to abut against and frictionally engage said intermediate portion; the first portions, the second portions and the intermediate portions of the respective tlange structures being transversely aligned and the respective legs of said standard being adapted to be positioned and guided by the respective flange structures, each of said intermediate portions of said anges having a pair of longitudinally spaced openings extending transversely therethrough, each opening in one flange structure being transversely aligned with a corresponding opening in the other ange structure so that the legs of the standard may be extended through the respective pairs of aligned openings whereby the plate is adapted to be mounted on said standard in either of two different positions.

References (Jited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 901,137 Willis Oct. 13, 1908 1,590,722 Brackmeier Iune 29, 1926 2,048,906 Webster July 28, 1936 2,147,562 Thomas Feb. 14, 1939 2,269,087 Schramm Ian. 6, 1942 2,595,530 Kuefner May 6, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 12,283 Great Britain Aug. 26, 1915 

